


Mausoleum

by ArsenicHazard



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Gen, Monster Hunters, Near Death Experiences, Pharaoh Tombs, Traps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:47:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26488909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArsenicHazard/pseuds/ArsenicHazard
Summary: Niko and Mezzy embark on finding treasure in an ancient tomb.(Originally written for Inktober 2016)





	Mausoleum

“You want us to do  _ what?” _

“Nothing big,” Mezzy repeated, “just steal from a pharaoh’s tomb.”

Niko shook his head, baffled at how serious she sounded, but her words were pure lunacy. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? Their tombs are filled with traps! It could be absolutely nothing, for all we know. Nobody makes it out alive, and even if you miraculously do, you’re cursed.”

Mezyra batted away his protests as if they were merely flies annoying her. “There’s a hefty reward for us when we get the treasure. Besides, we have a map.” She held up the rolled up piece of paper as if that would solve all of their problems.

Niko shook his head, looking down at her and folding his arms. “You have got to be kidding me, you greedy petulant child-“

The woman hit him over the head with the scroll, scowling. “We are doing this, and that’s final.”

**.** **.** **.**

The tomb was dark, lit only by the faint glow of their torch. It had taken both of their strength to dig away at the entrance, eventually the ground beneath them caving in, and the two of them collapsing into the corridor.

After a lot of grumbling of oncoming bruises, the two stood, Niko extra cautious around the walls; he wanted to get out of here  _ alive _ . His inspections soon came with right reason as he shrunk back, away from the stones, looking over at her. “Stay in the middle of the hallway.” He said firmly. On the sides of the walls, there were spikes lining the corridor. They were likely dipped in poison, Niko reasoned, to keep out any unwanted robbers like themselves.

After he was sure the spikes were gone, they spread out a bit more, Mezzy letting out a scream as she nearly fell into a pothole in the floor.

Lifting her out, Niko shook his head. “I have a bad feeling about this, Mezzy.”

She brushed him off, continuing down. “If it’s life threatening, it means we are close.” She mused.

“Wow, thank you for that, I feel so reassured, you lunatic.”

In the faint light, he saw her stick out her tongue as they turned down a few more paths, working through the map. 

The path forked at one point, and Mezzy let out a small sound which Niko immediately identified as them running into trouble.

“This fork isn’t indicated.”

Niko grimaced, grabbing her wrist firmly. “That’s it, we are leaving right now. This is too dangerous, you have no idea where we are going, we were given a faulty map, and I am not prepared to die today over some stupid treasure from some lost king.”

“No, no we’ll be fine, I’m sure it’s just up ahead on the… Right!” She mused, checking the map over again. “We aren’t leaving until we get that treasure.” Moving onwards down the right path, Niko watched her, moving to catch up quickly before she faded out of the light of their torch. He was not about to let himself get left behind. The only thing worse than being stuck here with her, was being stuck here without her.

The path wound and grew narrower until Niko was positive he had developed claustrophobia. With one misstep, he heard Mezyra gasp.

“Tripwire.”

He grabbed her, feeling a click as he ducked both of their heads. He felt an arrow whiz past his hat, just brushing it. The second went right through her cloak. “Duck!” He screamed, lowering himself to the ground and crawling beneath the arrows with her. They eventually found a jut out in the wall, pressing against it until it shifted and they toppled in, escaping the firing range.

Picking themselves up, Niko grabbed the torch, lifting it. Mezzy checked the inscriptions in the wall, smiling excitedly. “This is it.” She murmured. “We made it.”

Stepping a bit closer, extending his arm into the room, a frown graced his face. “Mez. There’s nothing here.”

“Ha ha, very funny.”

He shook his head, pulling over to see. “I’m being serious. Look.”

Sure enough the tomb was empty apart from faint bits of sand and Niko fought hard not to say ‘I told you so.’

**.** **.** **.**

Mezzy had a fit. She screamed and brushed away the sand, shouting curses and kicking the wall. They had gone so far only to realize it was a dead end.

In the midst of her kicking, she hit a loose stone. The piece jutted inwards, and before any of them could be given a warning, a stone wall crashed in between them and the door. Niko yelled in shock, moving further in to avoid getting hurt by the wall.

The smaller woman rushed over, panicking as she found no way out, sand slowly beginning to spill in from the top of the tomb.

So this was how they were going to die: lured into a trap, left to drown in sand as if in an hourglass.

The sand was up to their ankles in a matter of minutes. Both of them were frantically trying to find a way out on the wall, thought they both turned up empty.

It was up to their knees by now, making movement much harder. Niko took slow breaths, looking over at her. 

“Mezzy, if we die-“

“Shut up, we aren’t dying! Not on my watch!” She shrieked. Pounding fists against the wall, she fought every brick.

The sand was at Niko’s waist, almost up to Mezzy’s chest. He groaned internally, unable to move anymore, just standing still with her next to him.

They remained there for a few minutes before he got an idea, reaching over and pulling her up from the sand. She let out a sound, but didn’t complain since now it wasn’t at her collarbone anymore. He managed to set her on his shoulders, albeit he struggled, letting out a sigh. “There must be a hole that the sand is pouring into. We can either clog it, or use that as a means of an escape.” He said quickly.

The sand was reaching his chest, and he felt it almost tighten, weighing down each breath. “Hurry.” He murmured.

She wasted no time, reaching up, now tall enough to grab the ceiling, searching for the opening. Their torch had been smothered a while ago, now in complete darkness.

Niko felt the sand reach his neck, grimacing as Mezzy turned up empty once again, trying all the harder.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he held his breath, sand at his chin. Mezzy stilled for a moment before calling out to him. He couldn’t hear her, the sound of the falling sand muffling his hearing.

She tugged harder and the last thing he remembered was light flooding into the tomb.


End file.
